Body fat percentage

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pdwhitlock
pdwhitlock Posts: 83 Member
edited May 2015 in Fitness and Exercise
So.....due to weight lifting and cardio 6 days a week, and since I am about 18 lbs from my goal weight, I've decided to begin to also track my body fat percentage instead of just my weight loss. Is anyone else doing this? Particularly females? Those of you who have tracked your % for a while, Do you have pics to share of your journey and which % was what? I'm at 28.8 right now and the chart that came with the WW scale says that is high and should be between 21 and 28%. I guess I'm trying to set a "goal" here but since I'm new to this kind of measurement, I'm not sure really to go with this.
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  • kerbeya1
    kerbeya1 Posts: 53 Member
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    Finally someone who tracks body fat as well! I know you said female but almost could care less what the scale says all I care about is the pinch readings. Use to close to 50% body fat and now I have hit just over 25%
  • Longshot520
    Longshot520 Posts: 2 Member
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    You are definitely on the right track. Considering muscle weighs more than fat, and you lift quite often, it would be disheartening and misleading to use your weight to judge your initial success.

    As for a goal, women who are doing the regimen you are should be able to shoot for a goal of 18-22% BF as an intermediate goal. Then advanced would be 15-18%. Below 15% starts to flirt with becoming unhealthy for women IMHO, at least at a casual level.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
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    I will be doing BF% Tracking in the near future as well, as I have hit my scale goal - but my stomach is FAAAAT! I figure it is time to pull out the calipers and start practicing on myself.
  • bethlivi
    bethlivi Posts: 157 Member
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    I do something called inbody through my gym and have found it to be really helpful--I have gained a pound in the last two months, but I've lost 5 pounds of fat and gained three pounds of muscle and the rest is water--I've gone from 22.8% to 18.7% body fat. I was really bummed by the scale and was starting to not trust the mirror...thinking it was in my head.

    Now they can be very inconsistent though so choose the same person for caliper tests or arrange for water displacement or inbody testing. Otherwise just know it can fluctuate 2-4%...
  • tziol
    tziol Posts: 206 Member
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    you can have a look at pic below to give you some estimate of the body fat %. Too get proper measurement you would need to use something like body fat caliper etc.

    body-fat-percentage-men-women.png

  • pdwhitlock
    pdwhitlock Posts: 83 Member
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    kerbeya1 wrote: »
    Finally someone who tracks body fat as well! I know you said female but almost could care less what the scale says all I care about is the pinch readings. Use to close to 50% body fat and now I have hit just over 25%

    That's awesome! Glad to see I'm not the only female giving up on the scale and focusing on body fat %. You've done well to get to 25% from nearly 50! I began at 42% and I'm at 28.8.
  • pdwhitlock
    pdwhitlock Posts: 83 Member
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    tziol wrote: »
    you can have a look at pic below to give you some estimate of the body fat %. Too get proper measurement you would need to use something like body fat caliper etc.

    body-fat-percentage-men-women.png


    Thanks so much! This puts it in the scale I needed! I thought the machines were more accurate than the calipers though? But it seems I'm wrong. Where would I find those? (Guess I should google it)
  • pdwhitlock
    pdwhitlock Posts: 83 Member
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    bethlivi wrote: »
    I do something called inbody through my gym and have found it to be really helpful--I have gained a pound in the last two months, but I've lost 5 pounds of fat and gained three pounds of muscle and the rest is water--I've gone from 22.8% to 18.7% body fat. I was really bummed by the scale and was starting to not trust the mirror...thinking it was in my head.

    Now they can be very inconsistent though so choose the same person for caliper tests or arrange for water displacement or inbody testing. Otherwise just know it can fluctuate 2-4%...


    Wow! You are awesome...18.7%!
  • Hollywood_Porky
    Hollywood_Porky Posts: 491 Member
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    I went from 35% to ~16%. Once I started tracking body fat, then my whole mentality changed. It's a good way to prepare yourself for strength training and proper nutrition - the scale isn't the only way one can gauge true progress.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I track mine with a scale. While I know it isn't 100% accurate; it is giving me a trend.
    The percentages on these pictures are what my scale said the day the pictures were taken.
    8j8f2u5ydldu.jpg
  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    Longshot520 wrote: »
    Considering muscle weighs more than fat

    No it does not.

    It's more dense. It does not "weigh more." A pound of fat weighs exactly the same as a pound of muscle.

    Muscle is more dense. It takes up less space; it has lower volume.

    There is no crime in using English words properly.



  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    tedboosalis7 wrote: »
    I went from 35% to ~16%. Once I started tracking body fat, then my whole mentality changed. It's a good way to prepare yourself for strength training and proper nutrition - the scale isn't the only way one can gauge true progress.

    I totally agree.

    There are some pretty impressive photos floating around that show how "weight" doesn't necessarily correspond well to physique. Muscle is more dense, so losing body fat while retaining muscle is ideal. This is why the recommended approach is simple: eat at a calorie deficit, and lift heavy to retain lean muscle mass.

  • Hollywood_Porky
    Hollywood_Porky Posts: 491 Member
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    colors_fade wrote: »
    tedboosalis7 wrote: »
    I went from 35% to ~16%. Once I started tracking body fat, then my whole mentality changed. It's a good way to prepare yourself for strength training and proper nutrition - the scale isn't the only way one can gauge true progress.

    I totally agree.

    There are some pretty impressive photos floating around that show how "weight" doesn't necessarily correspond well to physique. Muscle is more dense, so losing body fat while retaining muscle is ideal. This is why the recommended approach is simple: eat at a calorie deficit, and lift heavy to retain lean muscle mass.

    Totally agree - I am past the deficit stage - I need to build muscle - and if fat comes along, the theory would be that it would be mitigated by the muscle increases - so the % really shouldn't budge that much - that's of course making some assumptions.

    Agreed man - great post.
  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    tedboosalis7 wrote: »
    Totally agree - I am past the deficit stage - I need to build muscle - and if fat comes along, the theory would be that it would be mitigated by the muscle increases - so the % really shouldn't budge that much - that's of course making some assumptions.

    Agreed man - great post.

    Yeah, been doing a lot of reading about that myself; clean bulking vs. bulking. It's a bit of a scary thought to put fat back on after cutting for so long... but I like the idea of having a certain amount of muscle on my frame. Good luck to you man.

  • dalansteiner
    dalansteiner Posts: 61 Member
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    Anyone else use the Withing scale to track bodyfat %? I can change my % to a lower amount just by drinking a quart of water. Which makes sense, so I track it in the morning.

    However, I am consistently hovering around 30% and that feels SO discouraging. I have 35 more lbs to lose (and am do far about a third of the way to my overall goal) and my BMI still says "obese." This despite 6 months of solid lifting, cardio, and 45 days of dieting.

    How do you guys track your bodyfat %?
  • Karen_can_do_this
    Karen_can_do_this Posts: 1,150 Member
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    I'm very confused regarding body fat % ... My previous gym had a hand held thingie that they fiddled with and then gave me a number. I started at 39% and got down to 28%
    Now my new gym has scale type thing that tells me my bodyfat % is sitting at 17%.... Um no way am I 27% bodyfat, I wish I was and I know that worth hard work, heavy lifts and amazingly awesome dedication I might get there eventually. But not yet.
    I'm going to ask my gp about bodyfat testing
  • KitTheRoadie
    KitTheRoadie Posts: 641 Member
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    lols - the old "muscle weighs more than fat" argument rolls on....

    From what I've heard you have to use 'calipers' to get an accurate reading but I do mine on scales. I only take the reading as a rough estimate as I think with these things you can never be 100%.

    I currently sit at around 13.5% and looking at that picture guide above I'd say that's about right, definitely somewhere between 12 and 15. I am happy with that, though with a bit more dedication I know I could probably do 10 to 12%! I have never cut out any foods, just calorie count and exercise, that's the way to go! ;)
  • cyronius
    cyronius Posts: 157 Member
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    colors_fade wrote: »
    Longshot520 wrote: »
    Considering muscle weighs more than fat

    No it does not.

    It's more dense.

    Yes, it does. If you compare a similar volume of muscle and fat, the muscle will weigh more, precisely because it is denser.

    In the specific context you used, that of comparing mass rather than volume, you're right, they weigh the same. But that's not the only valid comparison, and your very specific context certainly doesn't warrant the accusation that Longshot520 is misusing the language.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    edited June 2015
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    bethlivi wrote: »
    I do something called inbody through my gym and have found it to be really helpful--I have gained a pound in the last two months, but I've lost 5 pounds of fat and gained three pounds of muscle and the rest is water--I've gone from 22.8% to 18.7% body fat. I was really bummed by the scale and was starting to not trust the mirror...thinking it was in my head.

    Now they can be very inconsistent though so choose the same person for caliper tests or arrange for water displacement or inbody testing. Otherwise just know it can fluctuate 2-4%...

    I’d be weary of trusting those numbers. If such high numbers of fat loss and muscle gain were possible contemporaneously, why would people do the bulk / cut process (eat over maintenance to gain muscle, then eat under maintenance to lose fat)? Not to mention that muscle gains are difficult and require a good training regimen i.e. lifting heavy weights.

    I’m sure you’ve made great progress, don’t get me wrong, but I’d trust measurements more than weird unreliable machines.

    To answer the OPs question, I want to track bf%, but I wish I had a reliable measure. Unfortunately, unless I can get a DEXA scan, the best I can do is maybe look at photos and try to estimate where I am. I think it’s a great goal and much prefer it to exclusively focusing on the scale: it lets you see the bigger picture!
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    kerbeya1 wrote: »
    Finally someone who tracks body fat as well! I know you said female but almost could care less what the scale says all I care about is the pinch readings. Use to close to 50% body fat and now I have hit just over 25%

    I would track the trend. Pinch readings won't give you accurate readings.

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